Reno-Tahoe Open: Padraig Harrington sets up tourney schedule based on seven keys

RENO - Seven is a key number for Padraig Harrington.

The Irish golf star said there are seven areas of focus when he sets up his golf schedule for the season.

"You essentially start with what your goals are for the season," Harrington said Wednesday morning. "With me, obviously the majors, and then you're looking at things like, in a year like this, the Ryder Cup, FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai. So there are seven areas of focus.

"You build your tournament schedule around those. After that, you look at tournaments you've played well in. You look at tournaments that you like going to. Believe it or not, quite high up on the list are tournaments that your family likes going to. That could make a big difference to whether you go to an event or not, whether you enjoy an event or not."

Harrington said that good golf courses, good tournaments and good fields also are considered.

Harrington currently plays between 15 and 20 PGA Tour events each season. He has two top 10s in majors this year.

ACE FOR DUNLAP

Scott Dunlap aced the 183-yard par-3 7th using a 7-iron.

It was the ninth ace in the history of the RTO, and the fourth on No. 7 in the 14-year history. It was the first ace since 2008 by Omar Uresti, who aced No. 16 that year.

Dunlap finished at plus-3.

TOUGHEST, EASIEST HOLES

The toughest hole on the first day of play was No. 16, the 220-yard downhill par-3. It played to a 3.354 average. The next toughest hole was No. 1, a 494-yard par-4. It played to a 4.292 average.

The easiest hole Thursday was No. 13, the 518-yard par-5. It played to a 4.677 average. Next was No. 2, a 584-yard par-5 which played to a 4.723.

PAST CHAMPS REPORT

It was a so-so day for the seven past champions in the RTO field.

Five - John Rollins (plus-8), Matt Bettencourt (plus-8), Chris Riley (plus-3), Parker McLachlin (plus-1), Notah Begay (plus-1) - all finished in black numbers, which is good in a Modified Stableford format.

Will MacKenzie finished at minus-1 and two-time champ Vaughn Taylor was at minus-7.

POTPOURRI

The field shrunk to 130 when Derek Lamley withdrew because of a back injury and Matt Jones was disqualified for failure to sign his scorecard. That means that there will be two twosomes today... The field will be cut to top 70 and ties after 36 holes. If more than 78 make the cut, there would be a secondary cut after the third round. The projected cut is 77 players at plus-3... Action gets begins at 7 a.m. today... A total of 97 players were in the plus column.